


Help me back up on my feet

by alternitaveNeurologist



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, How do I even?, My First Work in This Fandom, Sadstuck, Self-Harm(will have trigger warning before hand), Terezi is blind again!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-11
Updated: 2013-09-09
Packaged: 2017-12-26 04:07:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/961382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alternitaveNeurologist/pseuds/alternitaveNeurologist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After sburb ends, the humans, along with their troll friends, find themselves on Earth. Not quite the one they remember, but Earth none the less.</p>
<p>Of course, alien or otherwise, the government can't just leave teenagers to their own devices, so all of them are put into foster care and adopted by families of varying size, wealth, and religion. This is the story of how, after a little over a year, their lives come crashing down around them.</p>
<p>Also known as: The story of the trolls and their bonding experiences with with those closest to them, and what happens when that bond is broken.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Help me back up on my feet

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, I'm sure everyone knows the drill. I'm alternitaveNeurologist, and this is my first ever Homestuck fanfic, and fanfic on this site. There will be a chapter for every perspective change, and I'll try to update regularly and keep the chapters a consistent length, but I make no promises. If anyone is triggered by events in this story(particularly those later on) I apologize now, as such was not my intent. Let me know, and I'll do what I can to rectify the situation. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this everyone!

Your name is James Carrol, and today is not your day, just as the past 365 weren’t either. On those days, you went to work on the docks, clocked in, unloaded cargo for nine hours, clocked out, went home, ate dinner with your kid, and went to sleep. Wash, rinse, repeat, right?

Wrong. Today was different. Today you had to call off of work. Why? Because the school called, looking for one “Mister Pyrope”.

So maybe Terezi isn’t technically your child, they could at least look at the records and get your last name right. But they didn’t. So you had to slowly explain that yes, you are human. No, Terezi is not. No, you don’t know her biological parents. Yes, you are her current legal guardian. No, she isn’t going to initiate a planetary invasion, you’d ground her until she moved out if she even tried.

God, fostering alien teenagers is hard. At least with Tez it is. You know a few of the others aren’t having as hard of a time. Kanaya’s parents won’t stop talking about their “little angel”, Feferi is doing well in her new school, Tavros has a part-time job at the animal shelter….. And Terezi is currently sitting in the principal’s office with a black eye, bloody lip, chipped tooth, and smug grin.

She got into another fight, they tell you. Considering the questions earlier, you must be talking to a new secretary or something. What happened this time? You dread asking, but you know you have to. But apparently you don’t, because they don’t know either. She won’t tell, just that they deserved it. That’s usually the case, a couple of jocks, or otherwise douchie characters, picking a bad target and getting their assed whooped. Though she’s usually more than happy to talk about those.

Something serious must’ve gone down if she’s keeping her mouth shut about it.

They say they need to speak to you in person, and ask if you can come down. You need to go to work, but you agree anyway. It’s not very far, but far enough for you to enjoy the sights of the city during the drive there.

You know this isn’t a good place, for her, or for you, but you can’t exactly move. Not with your wages. This is one of those cities where as soon as you come in, it’s impossible to leave. You become stuck in the grime and the dirt, just like everyone else.

Your little reflection is cut short when you realize that you’re sitting in the school parking lot, with the engine still running. You really need to stop doing that; it’s a waste of time and gas.

You soon find yourself in the main office, sitting next to Terezi, across from principal Fulman. The principal is an aging Hispanic male, who might as well retire while he still has hair. He drones on and on about the schools “zero tolerance” policy, which you know is a crock of shit, and will probably joke about with Tez later.

He says she’s suspended for two weeks, and that you may go. Normally, with some quick talking, you can get him to reduce the sentence, but that requires that you know what happened. Which you don’t. So you can’t.

The ride home is rather quiet, with neither of you daring to say a word. Your dingy little apartment isn’t much of a home though, now that you think about it. It’s more akin to a trash dump. You think she’d be better off living on the curb. But of course, you could never kick her out, not even for her own good.

This red light is taking forever. Maybe now’s a good time.

“What happened?” you ask, voice firm. She just glances at you from over her glasses. Somehow those red shades have always managed to escape unscathed, not a scratch, or crack, or blemish upon them. You wonder how she takes such good care of those damn things.

“You already know. I got into a fight. Nothing new there.” She responds, her voice gravely from god only knows how long of eating chalk.

“I know that part, numb-nips. What I meant is what did they do to set you off?” you retort She’s a natural smart ass, and it’s usually welcome, but not at moments like this. Moments like this, it just pisses you off to no fucking end.

The light changes from red to green, prompting you to begin moving again. “They… They called us poor, James.” Oh Jesus H Christ. That is far from what you were expecting. Maybe an actual insult, but not a fact about your financial status.

“So you flipped your shit over a bunch of douche bags calling us poor? That’s it?” you ask, knowing full well there has to be more to it.

“More or less… Yeah… Kinda…” she seems uncomfortable, and highly so. You’re about to open your mouth to say something, but she beats you to it. “If there was a way to bring my sight back, you’d tell me… Right? Even if we couldn’t afford it?” shit shit shit, this is not good.

There is a way, you would find out later, and you can’t afford it. But at that moment you knew that no matter how you answered, you were probably screwed. You also knew what those fuckers had REALLY said to her, and didn’t appreciate it.

“Of course I would Tez, do you even need to ask?” a hint of worry comes unbidden to your voice as you respond. You would, obviously, but the thought of getting her hopes up and then smashing them, and seeing her face afterwards..... It hurt.

“N-No, I guess not, I was just wondering.” She says, looking out the window. Or smelling, rather. You always get those confused with her. “You do realize we’re home, right?” You hadn’t, actually. “You okay big guy?” you hear her ask. You shake your head a bit, turning off the car engine and holding a hand to your head. She sounds worried, very much so.

“Yeah, fine, don’t you worry bout me kiddo.” You say, flashing her a half-hearted smile. You know you’re a shit liar, and you know she knows that. She’d normally push the issue, force you into spilling your guts, since she could smell bullshit from over a mile away. But not this time. This time, she just mumbles something under her breath as she grabs her things and gets out of the car, looking worried.

The truth is that you’re not fine. You don’t know what’s wrong, and you can’t afford the time or money to find out. You keep trying different over-the-counter meds, but you still keep blacking out.

You don’t want her to worry, not now, not when she has so much else on her mind, with school, or the lack thereof. It’s her senior year, and you know that she knows that she can’t afford to fuck around, and if she’s got a medical disaster to look after, it’ll only be worse.

With a heavy sigh, you make your way to the room you and Terezi have been staying in. It’s cramped, with barely enough room for the couch you sleep on, or the bed in her room, but you make due. You can barely afford what you’ve got, and that’s not changing anytime soon. All you can do is try to help Terezi make a future for herself, and hope you live long enough to see her succeed.

Fucking Christ, you’re twenty-seven years old, and you’re already knocking on deaths door. Already accepting the “fact” that you’re not long for this world. Then again, some days you wonder if it’d just be easier to send Tez to live with one of her friends, and just slink off into the shadows to die…

No, no you can’t, you just can’t. You promised to see this through, and a man of his word you are. You grab a mug, with the words “worlds okay-est dad” emblazoned on it, and fill it with the coffee you’d left cooking when you went to get Tez.

This is proving to be harder than you thought it’d be. Your only saving grace at the moment is this damn, shitty coffee, and the smokes you keep hidden in the pantry, only hidden at all because a while back you promised Terezi you’d quit. You plan on keeping that promise, but it’s harder than she thinks. Everything usually is, but, god bless her, that usually doesn’t stop her from trying.  
You don’t see her in the main room or the kitchen, so you assume she’s in her room, the only one that has a door.

Nothing wrong with a quick smoke break, right?

Well, the pantry is already open, which isn’t that strange in and of itself. Terezi probably grabbed some pop-tarts before going to her room. Your smokes are where they should be, and upon closer inspection you find that, sure enough, a packet of the pre-baked pastries is missing.

Cherry flavored, of course. Like she’d settle for anything else. You don’t understand why she loves that flavor so much, they’re not that great, and yet she scarfs them like there’s no tomorrow whenever she can.

You push that quandary aside as you take one of your cigarettes, leaving the rest in the pack in an attempt to cut back so you don’t smoke them all in a single day. They’re some cheap, obscure brand called Timeless Time. Fucking cheap Korean smokes, they’re just gonna send you to a far earlier grave. You still take it though, and head out to the balcony. It is there that you’re met with a sight you hoped you’d never see.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed my little ramble there. If so, just a heads up that certain characters might get more than one story arc. depends on what happens. Any criticism, suggestions for certain characters, or whatever you guys wanna say is appreciated. I'll have the next chapter up when I type up what I've got written down.


End file.
